What Happened To BASS Class?

In light of all the confusion pro anglers and fans are currently facing regarding the 2006 BASS tournament season, I'm compelled to share with them and the broader fishing industry some recent history that has led us to where we are today. The purpose of this is educational. It's purely my personal take on what is going on in our industry and is not necessarily the official opinion of the Professional Anglers Association (PAA).

I began my career with BASS in 1989. Back then, and all through the 1990s, BASS was the premier bass-fishing organization in the country. In those days, BASS prided themselves on what they called "BASS class." They were a small company from Montgomery, Ala. that held traditionally conservative Southern family values. Of course, they weren't perfect. But as a whole the employees of BASS, and their leadership, had "BASS class."

My childhood dream had always been to be a BASS pro, and I was proud to be a member of the Bass Anglers Sportsman's Society back then.

In April 2001, ESPN bought BASS from Helen Sevier. At the time, there was a buzz among the pros about how ESPN was going to take the sport to the next level. ESPN announced big plans and made lucrative promises to the pros, and we were excited about where we thought ESPN would take us.

Things at BASS didn't change much the first couple of years under ESPN's ownership. Kevin VanDam won the Classic in 2001 and I won it in 2002. I recall one of the top brass at ESPN telling me after my win that ESPN could not have picked two better champions for their first 2 years of owning BASS. I could tell he meant it, too.

The culture at BASS had hardly changed those first 2 years, but unfortunately, the TV ratings were only increasing very modestly. Those ratings were not good enough, and imminent change was on the way.

The year everything changed at BASS was 2003. First, in Jan. 2003, BASS announced their controversial new mandatory Busch Angler of the Year (AOY) program. For years, BASS had resisted the temptation to take the easy money from liquor companies. Beer companies had always been an easy sale, but the leaders at BASS had "BASS class" and their family-oriented values would not allow them to make those easy sales.

Under ESPN's ownership, a new value system was being ushered in at BASS. For the first time in BASS's history, profits seemed to become more important to them than people.

That was also the year Mike Iaconelli won the Classic. Iaconelli's dramatic last-minute win unleashed a torrent of spontaneous raw emotion like Bassmaster TV had never seen before. It was real, and it made great TV.

Instantly, everything changed with Bassmaster TV. The leadership of Bassmaster TV saw this raw emotion as what they needed more of to increase their TV ratings. At the very next tournament after Iaconelli's Classic win, Jerry McKinnis stood in front of all the pros at the tournament briefing and showed us a video of Iaconelli winning the Classic. He then told us that we all needed to "be like Mike" to help increase TV ratings, setting the tone for 2004 and 2005.

Over the next couple of years, ESPN seemingly culled through dozens of pros to find the best five or six who could "be like Mike." They could dance and scream and act a good role for the camera. Recently, ESPN has used these five or six as actors on their TV shows to the relative exclusion of nearly the whole rest of the field. For the first time, Bassmaster TV had become biased. Tournament performance no longer guaranteed valuable airtime for the other pros.

Worse, Bassmaster TV had become biased and phony. The other anglers who were acting in Ike's likeness were no longer spontaneous and real as Ike had been in his 2003 Classic win. Their antics on camera became scripted, expected, forced and phony. All a big show for the camera, and the public knew it.

Ike and his "likes" seem to have been promised by ESPN that they would become pro fishing's biggest stars if they continued their song and dance for the camera. ESPN alerted industry sponsors that Ike and his "likes" were going to be the stars and that was where they should put their endorsement dollars. A few bought in, but not many.

By the 2005 Classic in Pittsburgh, BASS TV had done a total transformation. Their TV show was hardly recognizable to their old fans. While much of the Classic coverage was informative and entertaining, there were parts of the Classic coverage in which ESPN had replaced "BASS class" with something of a cross between WWF wrestling and the Jerry Springer show.

After 2 years of seeing nothing but Ike and his "likes" on Bassmaster TV, the show's ratings are going nowhere.

In the process of trying to draw new fans to the sport with Ike and his "likes," ESPN had alienated many fans and pros alike. I'm personally now embarrassed to tell people I'm associated with BASS. I have many friends who tell me they have to hit the "mute" button frequently while watching Ike and his "likes" when their kids are watching because of the vulgarity they use. (I blame both the pros and ESPN production for allowing this trash on their show).

If there's one thing I've learned in this life, it's that common decency never goes out of style. Never. It appears ESPN believes that vulgarity drives TV ratings – more evidence of their apparent "profits over people" mindset. The vulgarity isn't working for them with Bassmaster TV, as the ratings are not what they had hoped.

ESPN seemingly does not believe it can be profitable in bass fishing by simply covering our sport the way they do other professional sports – by giving unbiased media coverage to those who perform the best. Instead of just "covering the game," ESPN seems to believe they have to turn bass fishing into some type of Hollywood production. Instead of an athlete competing in a sport, I feel like ESPN wants actors to help them make a TV show.

A perfect example is the comparatively small amount of TV time given to Mark Davis during the coverage of his four wins in 2004-05. I personally feel that the non-Ike-like anglers are a supporting cast that exists only to fill up space while ESPN turns Ike and his "likes" into stars.

In my mind, ESPN's apparent "profits over people" mindset is what's holding BASS back. If ESPN would return Bassmaster TV to being more family-friendly, clean up the inappropriate verbage in some Bassmaster magazine editorials (circa Sept. 2005), and if they would begin to care about all their fishermen at all levels, I believe they would get their momentum back. And I want to see BASS succeed.

Comparatively speaking, I believe the underlying reason why FLW Outdoors is so ragingly successful right now is that their staff truly care about people, and they treat the little man with dignity and respect. At FLW Outdoors tournaments, the amateurs are made to feel as welcome and as special as the pros. Sure, it may be partly because they want to sell them a boat – and profit from them – but at least the customer gets a nice boat in exchange for his money. The relationship benefits both parties.

FLW Outdoors is successful because their staff comes to work each day prepared to serve their customers. Bottom line: FLW Outdoors puts people, the common man, first. As a result, their profits come. ESPN, on the other hand, seems to put profits first, and their people are going. A good lesson in there for all of us.

There are spiritual laws in place that apply to all people, whether they believe it or not, much like the law of gravity. Whether or not you believe in the law of gravity makes no difference, it still rules in your life. Just as we will never defy the law of gravity, ESPN will never reach their goals with BASS if they value profits over people.

Thankfully, the PAA is working to keep the dream alive by working on opportunities for tournament anglers at all levels.